PARAGUAY TEA. 173 



in a pot, called mate, from the spout of which the tea is drunk, with or without a 

 little burnt sugar, cinnamon, or lemon juice. They drink it at every meal, and 

 seldom eat before they have taken some of it. The more wealthy and refined 

 portion of the population partake of the infusion from a mate or teapot, formed of 

 silver or other materials, by means of a tin or silver pipe, called bombilla, per- 

 forated with holes at one end, to prevent swallowing the pulverized herb which 

 floats on the surface. The quantity of leaves used by a person who is fond of it, 

 is an ounce. It is customary, in good society, to supply each of the party with 

 a mate and pipe, with the infusion as near as possible to a boiling temperature, 

 which, those who are habituated to its use, can swallow without inconvenience; 

 but often the whole household and their visitors are supplied by handing the 

 mate from one to another, filling it up with hot water as fast as it becomes 

 exhausted. If the water is suffered to remain long on the leaves, the decoction 

 becomes of an inky blackness. The taste of the leaves, when green, somewhat 

 resembles that of the mallows, or the inferior kinds of green tea from China. 

 Mr. Stenhouse, of Glasgow, has recently detected an alkali in them, not dissim- 

 ilar to theme, a bitter tonic substance, which is found in the leaves of the tea of 

 China, and tlie Paulliania sorb'dis of the banks of the Amazon, and which is also 

 identical with caffeine, obtained from the seeds of coffee, and theobromine, the 

 principle yielded by chocolate. On this subject Liebig remarks, "We shall 

 never, certainly, be able to discover how mankind were led to the use of the hot 

 infusion of the leaves of a certain shrub, (tea,) and of a decoction of certain 

 roasted seeds (coflTee.) Some cause there must be which would explain how 

 the practice has become a necessary of life to whole nations. But it is still 

 more remarkable that the beneficial effects of both plants, on the health, must 

 be ascribed to one and the same substance, the presence of which, in two vege- 

 tables, belonging to different natural families, and the products of different quar- 

 ters of the globe, could hardly have presented itself to the' boldest imagination."* 

 The Ilex paraguariensis is highly ornamental, and doubtless would flourish in 

 any soil and situation where the Magnolia grandiflora would thrive. Hence, its 

 mtroduction into the middle and southern sections of the union is well worthy 

 of the attention of all who have proper conveniences for cultivating it. 



* 'While on this subject it may be interesting to notice incidentally, the plants employed as tea in vari- 

 ous countries of the globe. In China, Thea bohea and viridis mixed with the leaves of CameHa sasanqua 

 and oleifera, and sometimes with those of Oha fragrans ; also Rhammis theezans ; New Holland and 

 Kurile Isles, Corraaalba; Kamischatka, Pedicularis lanata ; Argentine Republic, Paraguay, itc. Ilex 

 paras;uariensis ; Brazil, Thea bohea, Ilex paraguariensis, and Paulliania sorbilis, irom\v\uc]\ the ^people on the 

 banks of the Amazon make a beverage called guarana ; New Granada, Alstonia theceformis, which is said 

 to be equal to the tea of China ; Chili and Mexico, Psoralia glandulosa or "culen ;" Carolina, Georgia, 

 and Florida, Bex vomitoria, or cassena; Virginia, Pennsylvania, &c., Gaultheria procumbens, or mountain 

 tea. which, when properly cured, is much esteemed ; also, Ceanothus americanus, or New Jersey tea, 

 (having actually been used in the revolut'onary war as a substitute for tea,) and S'didago odora or 

 golden-rod, the flowers of which, gathered when fully expanded, and carefully dried, aflbrd a most 

 agreeable substitute for tea, and in former times were exported to China, where they brought a high 

 price ; and in Canada, Labrador, &c., Ledum latifolium, Indian or Labrador tea. 



